-- TORONTO -- Members of the city's Hispanic community say they feel betrayed after rallying to raise $37,000 to buy prosthetic arms for a local talk radio host who has been charged with smuggling $300,000 in heroin through Pearson airport.

"We feel suffering and pain of being betrayed," Valladares said. "The community opened our hearts and pockets to help him."

You feel betrayed?

Canada gave this guy a home.

Maybe next time, instead of simply looking inward, "the community" could consider making a donation to, say... Sick Kids Hospital?

-- Jerusalem -- "So I think Israel tries to make Gaza sink in the ocean of blood and tears and suffering," said Hamas official Ghazi Hamad. "And maybe it tried to impose some collective punishment against the Palestinian people."

Of course, there's no "right response" here.

Hamas is obviously looking to provoke disproportionate Israeli retaliation... and it's starting to look like they'll get their wish.

And if that kills innocent civilians... so what... they're all goin' to paradise anyway.

"if anyting happens to me this site here will b in charge of that cause i hav no enimeas ecept you guys and trust me i will b seeing you in court darcey you dont think i hav money for a lawyer i wipe my ass with 100$ bills"

I don't know, Bobo... from the pictures I've seen so far... I doubt your hand can get anywhere in the vicinity.

-- OTTAWA -- Members of Parliament are set to edge further into the top one per cent of Canadian income-earners with a $4,600 pay hike April 1 that will take their minimum salaries to $155,400 annually.

That's a lotta scratch for a 27 week work year.

"Being elected to Parliament is better than winning the lottery," said John Williamson, national director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. "The pay is already extravagant and it's been like that for a number of years now."

Ontario's health minister has apologized for suggesting he might wear an adult diaper in an effort to understand the plight of incontinent nursing-home residents.

"If people were offended or think that I shouldn't have raised those comments, I do apologize."

Perhaps Georgie was feeling a little sheepish... at the outrageous suggestion that he actually look at solving this problem... as opposed to turning it into an episode of Jerry Springer...

Conservative Opposition leader John Tory Thursday demanded an apology from Smitherman, saying the minister should come forward with an action plan on long-term care within the next two weeks in order to make up for his alleged irreverence.

Even Georgie's fearless leader couldn't get behind this one.

Premier Dalton McGuinty was quiet on the issue Thursday after saying a day earlier that the issue was a matter of "human dignity" and not a subject of jest.

"I suspect Mr. Harper will learn very quickly that it is better to call in the RCMP when you learn of such allegations. Otherwise, the story is bound to get worse."

So Jason... let me see if I get your, uh... drift. You have, one - absolute knowledge, and presumably some evidence of a crime being committed... and two - absolute knowledge, and presumably additional evidence of a cover-up of same... by Stephen Harper.

Well, I think in fairness to the PM, we should maybe get his version of this sordid tale, huh?

“This story was raised with me two and a half years ago. I looked into it. There is absolutely no truth in it,” Mr. Harper told the House of Commons during a raucous session of Question Period.

“The officials who were at the meeting have been very clear about what transpired ... Chuck Cadman himself, on national television, the day of that historic vote, also indicated that the story is not true.”

-- KINGSTON -- A 20-year-old Kingston man who left his probation papers at the scene of his latest crime will have six months to consider whether he's chosen the right career path.

Andrew D. Oatway pleaded guilty in Kingston's Ontario Court of Justice to a Jan. 25 break-in and theft from Dino's Barber Shop, two violations of the probation he received Nov. 16 for an earlier break-in and possession of marijuana.

Oatway's defence lawyer, Dan Scully, asked for some leniency for his client, noting his relative youth. He told Masse that Oatway became a father in January and expressed some hope his client will turn his life around.

-- PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Feb. 28 -- A missile strike on a suspected Taliban safe house in a remote tribal area of northwest Pakistan killed at least 10 people early Thursday, according to residents and local officials.

Ain't technology a wonderful thing?

The attack targeted a home in Kaloosha village in volatile South Waziristan, near the Afghan border. Kaloosha has long been considered a stronghold of foreign and local fighters with ties to al-Qaeda.

The village was home to Nek Mohammed Wazir, a commander who was killed in an apparent missile strike in June 2004 after supplying shelter to hundreds of al-Qaeda fighters following the start of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.

It appears as though U.S forces have managed to insert sufficient reconnaissance assets into the purportedly impenetrable "tribal lands"... to light up high-value targets for their Predator program. I'm guessin' that's gonna make for some sleepless nights in Osamaville.

The attack, less than 20 miles from the Afghan border, marked the second targeted missile strike in a month in the rugged mountainous region, a key battleground in Pakistan's fight with the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

Thirteen people, including top al-Qaeda lieutenant Abu Laith al-Libi, were killed Jan. 28 in an airstrike in the village of Khushali Torikhel in North Waziristan.

It's also gonna sow some dissension, as the Taliban try to figure out which of their compatriots might've narc'd them out to the Great Satan.

I hear talk from the NDP and the Bloc saying that we need to get our troops out of there. Yet, these very parties are the ones who claim to represent women. They claim to represent children, the marginalized, the poor and the disabled. However, if we withdraw our troops from Afghanistan, what will Afghans be left with? They will be living in fear of the Taliban.

Make no mistake about it. If the Taliban return to Afghanistan, it will be an international chaotic situation. Have we not learned our lessons from Rwanda? We need to provide the Afghans with the resources necessary to provide for their own security.

I am very encouraged by the position that our government has taken and the courage that our government and the Prime Minister have shown in stepping up to the plate and saying that we will not abandon Afghanistan.

27 February 2008

"Too bad the apology doesn't take the time to mention who is still lurking in the halls of parliament, looking for an opportunity to send out personal information of any Conservative who looks vulnerable."

Egyptian-born Mahmoud Jaballah came to Canada in 1996 on a false Saudi passport and claimed refugee status.

Along with his wife Husnah Al-Mashtoul they founded and ran the Um Al-Qura Islamic school located in Scarborough, Ontario which still remains open and is apparently approved by the Ontario Ministry of Education as a private school.

Oh yeah... one other small detail...

He was released seven months later but was arrested again under a new security certificate because it was found that his fingerprints matched those of Egyptian Islamic Jihad leader Mahmoud Said that were released by Interpol.

Read the whole thing at the Broom.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"If you want to volunteer to help at playschool you need a police check done. You don't need to if you're starting a private school?"

Not to be overly nitpicky here, but... all the family pets fall victim to predation... it might be time to pack up and find a nicer place to live...

A Kuranda couple fears for their children's safety after a 5m python devoured their dog in front of them, just weeks after other snakes killed their cat and guinea pig.

Daniel Peric said he now would not leave his two children, aged five and seven, alone in any part of the house, after the "enormous" python ate his silky terrier-cross chihuahua about 9pm on Monday.

And it's not like they didn't have any sort of prior warning.

Mr Peric said in the weeks before, the family had found their cat's body, which looked like something had attempted to swallow it and on Sunday a smaller python had eaten their pet guinea pig."When it happens once, you think it's a one-off, but last night I thought "this is serious."

This puts me in mind of all the people who, despite simple common sense AND all previous experience, choose to live on a flood plain, fault line... or the infamous tornado belts we all see on the nightly news.

Surely you remember... "I'm not really saying... that Olivia Chow is a dirty cheater..."

"The rumour around TO (Let me be very clear; I am not suggesting that the rumour is true. I am only stating that it is out there.) is that Olivia Chow won because NDP supporters from across the city voted early and often at different polling stations in Trinity-Spadina."

"Did I call Stephen Harper an "asshole"? Yes I did. If you don't think it is proper to call the Prime Minister an "asshole" out of respect for the office, then surely you also agree that an asshole shouldn't be in the office in the first place."

25 February 2008

I'm a little concerned... I mean... "Where are you gonna get a harpoon, on such short notice?"

-- "sereousle u hav noooo fuckn clue what you got your self into get anybody u want no one is gonna stop me from kickn the fuck out of you tell the whole world i dont give a fuck if i go to jail or not any more you pushed me around too far n im fed up with this bs and this talking u guys are doin about me like i said google up the last name jeha and tell me wat u get buddy wat ur in olds thats wat 45 min away from me i dont care ill drive down ther just to prove to u that i aint all talk" --

Wait a sec... is that the banjo music from "Deliverance"? And what the hell warm, bloody, pulsating thing... is that crazy Metis guy eating?**********

Who, in their right mind, refers to a cold-blooded murderer... like he's a character from a children's book?

-- VANCOUVER -- A colourful admitted drug dealer who was a key Air India defence witness for Ripudaman Singh Malik will appear in a B.C. provincial court this morning to face a first-degree murder charge.

Raminder Singh (Mindy) Bhandher, whose father, Balwant, remains a suspect in the 1985 terrorist bombing, allegedly entered the condo of a female friend on Jan. 28 and gunned down Tejvir Singh (Sunny) Bains, her young lover.

Born on March 1, 1948, in Cairo, Egypt,Khadr was a very well connected Islamist extremist prior to his death during a firefight with Pakistani security forces in October 2003. Both Khadr and his residence on Khartoum Avenue, Scarborough, have been linked to extremists in Canada.

Khadr first became involved in terrorism when he used his position at two different charities to funnel money to Al Qaeda allegedly to finance terrorist operations.

Initially, while working with Human Concern International (HCI), Khadr used the money collected, including some $325,000 provided by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), allegedly to fund Al Qaeda operations, including the bombing of the Egyptian embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan in 1995, which was ordered by Ayman Al Zawahiri.

Khadr was arrested by Pakistan authorities for his role in the bombing, but was later released without charges on the request of then Prime-Minister Jean Chrétien.

24 February 2008

"Warman might think that this is another episode of him shooting fish in a barrel. But that’s probably what poor Shirlene McGovern thought, too – I was just another politically incorrect chump to rough up."

"I don’t think I’m going to be like the easy pickings that Warman is used to fighting. While my top gun lawyers are taking care of business in the court of law, I’ll be working vigorously in the court of public opinion."

Oh, oh, slick... looks like you just woke the tiger. And I bet your former friends at the Human Rights Commission are gonna be thrilled with this thing too.

"I’ll ensure that every legal document, every piece of interesting testimony, every embarrassing admission I exact from Warman and the human rights commission will be shown to the whole world."

"Unlike human rights commissions, where only the victim of the complaint is grilled, defamation lawsuits are two-way streets."

I see the freakin' headline and my first thought is... Stephen Harper's had a stroke!!!

Turns out though, it's just the pinko media playing parlour games again...

OTTAWA - A carbon tax of $30 a tonne, three times higher than the tax announced last week by the B.C. government, would be part of Tuesday's federal budget if the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives had its way.

A mother has been charged with murdering her infant daughter after the youngster was found dead in the family's downtown Toronto home Saturday night.

Xin Lei Huang, who was just 40 days old, was found dead in a Manning Ave. home, near Bathurst St. and Queen St. W., where paramedics were responding to a call for a baby not breathing just before 9 p.m., Toronto Police homicide Det.-Sgt. Gary Grinton said Sunday.

Finally, consider this: Muslims are angrily at war with Buddhists in East Asia. Muslims are enraged with Animists in Africa. Of course, none of this approaches the sheer hatred that Muslims bear towards Hindus in the South Asia peninsula.

And this foaming hatred blanches compared to the white-hot fury Muslims feel for the Christian American Crusaders. And this fury is but a candle to the incandescent, boiling, supernova of murder they feel toward the Jews."

Does anyone beside me detect a pattern here?

You know, my Dad told me once, "Bill, if more than three people in your life are utter, total assholes, then maybe it is you."

-- TEHRAN, Iran -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on the United States and its allies Saturday to “apologize” for accusing Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, a day after the UN nuclear watchdog released its latest report on Iran.

Mr. Ahmadinejad said the International Atomic Energy Agency report vindicated Iran, and he warned that Tehran would take unspecified “decisive reciprocal measures” against any country that imposed additional sanctions against Iran.

There's only one problem with the Madman's statement about the IAEA.

It's simply not true.

Now I know Islam says it's okay to lie to the infidels, but puh-leese... we're entering Magic Kingdom territory here.

The 11-page IAEA report obtained by The Associated Press said Iran “has not suspended its enrichment-related activities.”

Instead, said the report, Iran “started the development of new-generation centrifuges” – an expansion of enrichment – and continued working on heavy-water nuclear facilities. When finished, Iran could cull them for plutonium, a possible fissile payload in nuclear warheads.

Iran should just come out and say, "Screw you, we want the bomb... and if you mess with us, you'll have 6 dollar no-lead by next Tuesday."

Have a little backbone, Mahmoud you big brute... let's see what you've got.

**********

And yes... once again... I am linked by witty and wise Canadian Cynic.

The puerile, profane toddler who brought us such gems as...It just saddens me that CC isn't getting the recognition he so richly deserves.

**********

LAST WORD:

Charles Johnson does not sit down and write five essays a day on why he thinks Radical Islam is a deranged and poisonous and growing Death Cult.

Charles simply links to newspaper articles, usually from Arab and Islamist sources like Arab News and Reuters, that show without question that Radical Islam is calling, daily and nightly, for the destruction of the West, the murder, enslavement or conversion of its citizens, and the establishment of a world-wide Caliphate where Shariah -– Islamic Law -– is the only law.

This is not his opinion. This is not the opinion of Western editorial writers.

This is a filter (and of course it’s a filter -– that’s why it is useful) that looks at Islamist thinking and behavior daily and shows what Islamists are saying and doing in their own words.

Serbian Canadians plan to take to the streets of several cities over the next couple of weekends to protest Kosovo's move to declare independence from Serbia.

Nick Giacobbe, a spokesman for the American consulate, says officials have been in touch with the Mounties and Toronto police about protecting the legation, which he says is the responsibility of the RCMP.

But he admits the consulate is concerned, noting that back in 1999 during a Serbian protest, demonstrators threw a Molotov cocktail into the consulate building in Toronto, and Giacobbe says that was a learning experience.

"If countries like Germany and France were not so afraid of committing forces, this problem would be solved readily," Major Richard Moffet, deputy commander of Canada's battle group, said in an interview.

A senior Turkish military source told Reuters two brigades made up of around 8,000 troops are taking part, though Iraqi officials and a senior officer with coalition forces in Baghdad suggested the number was no more than a "few hundred".

While police wouldn't say how or why Rodrigues was known to them, a man by the same name who would be 21 years old now and is also from Scarborough was arrested three years ago by Toronto Police in a massive drug bust worth $1 million.

Her decorators and caterers also transformed rooms in her San Francisco Bay-area home into a "Betty Ford Clinic," where guests snacked on cookies shaped like Valium pills and Prozac capsules, and "Dick Cheney's Hunting Lounge," adorned with fake taxidermic human heads and staffed with waiters serving quail.

In addition to her jabs at Mr. Cheney and Mr. Bush, she ribbed Clinton supporters by bringing in a Bill Clinton impersonator who mingled with guests dressed in a pair of boxer shorts.

The event, which raised $600,000 (U.S.), was a massive hit with guests, Ms. Manus-Salzman said. And despite the high-society attendance, no one complained of being offended by the evening's risqué humour.

Preserve all the esoteric culture you desire... just don't be sending me the bill...

"Since the aim of language is communication, efforts by government to artificially preserve languages which would otherwise disappear in the larger linguistic sea in which they exist are effectively efforts to thwart communication and preserve divisions which would otherwise be more likely to disappear."

"Unscrupulous politicians may exploit such divisions to gain political advantage, but this does not equal an overall gain for the population as a whole."

A report from former NDP attorney general Marion Boyd recommended the province allow and regulate Shariah arbitrations much the same way it does Christian and Jewish tribunals, setting off a firestorm of protests.

"Every week, we have to face these kinds of events where the trucks are stopped by roadblocks - people, bandits, armed people who ask for money - take the trucks, take sometimes also the drivers," she said.

"It has been going on for many months now. Often the drivers are sent back and sometimes the food is stolen. Sometimes they even attack trucks without any food because they take the trucks."

I'm sorry Yoko... this ain't about "Imagination."

The stark reality is... this is just another third world "peace through superior firepower" kind of deal.

To research her thesis, the future Mrs. Obama sent an 18-question survey to a sampling of 400 black Princeton graduates, requesting the respondents define the amount of time and "comfort" level spent interacting with blacks and whites before they attended the school, as well as during and after their University years.

OBAMA: You know, I’ve heard from an Army captain who was the head of a rifle platoon — supposed to have 39 men in a rifle platoon. Ended up being sent to Afghanistan with 24 because 15 of those soldiers had been sent to Iraq.

Yeah, sure... that could happen, huh?

Just to be sure though... let's ask an actual soldier...

He is either so full of it or he’s not smart enough to question a bogus story. I was a Captain in the USMC and a combat vet.

First off, Captains are not in charge of “platoons”, Lieutenants are. Captains are in command of a Company. Three platoons make up a company.

Secondly, I have no idea how a unit that size would be “chopped” and redirected to another country while sending another part to a different country. Personnel are not commodities in the way he refers to them.

The case against a group of Canadian prisoners sometimes referred to as “the secret trial five” isn't as secret as it used to be.

Ottawa yesterday unveiled a string of more specific allegations against five terror suspects, detailing, for example, how one suspect called the satellite phone of al-Qaeda's second-in-command and how another was in charge of a group of training camp recruits in Afghanistan.

“Almrei and the five individuals appeared to have access cards and codes for a restricted access building on the [Pearson] grounds,” the documents state.

Egyptian Mahmoud Jaballah, long alleged to be a communications conduit for terrorist cells involved in the 1998 African embassy bombings, is now said to have “communicated closely” with Ayman al-Zawahiri, the al-Qaeda No. 2.

As you read keep in mind the political connections as well. Jack Layton and members of the NDP Party have consistently provided material support for the Secret Five. They've signed petitions and lobbied on their behalf.

They helped to crush provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act and pushed to eliminate security certificates.

Some of their members even went so far as to introduce a resolution at their 2006 convention that Canadian troops were terrorists.

**********

ONE LAST NOTE:

Guess who else is all broken up about these poor lost souls being victimised "by the man"?

"They're simply allegations," Matthew Behrens, an activist with Campaign to Stop Secret Trials, told CTV News. "They might as well be saying these guys are from Mars, because there's no evidence to back it up."

Why aboriginal negotiations are... 'always in the shitter'...so to speak?

On Jan. 30, two plainclothes officers with the OPP's Major Event Liaison Team arrived at the Thurlow Aggregates quarry on Deseronto Road and asked to speak with protest organizers.

They were told to return to the site after dark - around 8 p.m. - for a meeting with "elders", according to police.

Speaking to The Intelligencer shortly after the incident, Sgt. Kristine Rae, spokeswoman for Eastern Region OPP headquarters, said when the officers approached they were "confronted by some of the people in attendance and assaulted."

Must be some kind of "root causes" thing, huh?

There was the same sort of anarchy down in Caledonia. Try as he might, even native apologist cum negotiator David Peterson couldn't really paint the process in a flattering light.

“There's a constant dynamic inside the place; it's like a swirling cauldron,” said David Peterson, the former Ontario premier who negotiated the removal of the blockade of two main roads in Caledonia.

Syed Haider, who has set up and is a partner in eight MRI clinics in Canada and the United States, said if the bidding for an MRI was open to any firm, rather than just one company, there would have been substantial savings.

"I didn't think they got a very good deal at all," Haider said, adding the corporation should have opened the bidding to "public tender."

"We interrupt this report on the last remaining meter of Arctic sea ice to bring you live footage of Britney Spears' entourage leaving the hospital ... John, you're in the helicopter, what can you tell us?"

-- OTTAWA -- Parliament should give "overwhelming" support to an extension of Canada's mission in Afghanistan or risk the wrath of an enemy that strikes at weakness, the country's top soldier said Friday.

He warned that the Taliban are watching the political debate in Canada for signs of weakness.

And enough of that peacekeeping argle-bargle... let's take it to these jihadi donkeyheads.

Gen. Hillier said his troops need a robust mandate that goes beyond self-defence and allows them to go out and find insurgents.

In the 1990s in Bosnia, he said, UN troops were limited to self-defence and often couldn't intervene against ethnic cleansing.

If self-defence is the first priority, then why not just stay home?

There's a good question.

**********

Welcome... yet again... readers of proud patriot Canadian Cynic.

CC thinks I'm being a little too hard on the Taliban.

Of course, that's really no surprise... remember Canadian Cynic's message to Wanda Watkins, whose son Lane was killed in Afghanistan?

"With all due respect, Wanda, fuck you and your grief. It's not the job of the rest of Canada to continue to let its soldiers die just so you can sleep better at night."

A very proud moment in CC's puerile, profanity laced existence.

Of course, his disdain isn't limited to grieving mothers... there's also this little gem...

Zekarias, who has no previous criminal convictions, was supported in court yesterday by 15 family members and friends, many with professional careers. They said they are willing to act as sureties for him, stressing he's "not a danger to society."

I'm guessing the family and friends of the man he shot in the head... might disagree.

Awet Zekarias ordered his friend Edward Paredes to exact his revenge against the bouncers who had hurled him out the doors of the Brass Rail Tavern two minutes before innocent bystander John O'Keefe walked into the path of the merciless bullet, court heard yesterday.

Thank goodness though, for the wisdom of defense lawyers...

"This is tragedy of monumental proportions, but my client comes from an excellent family and an excellent background," his lawyer, Howard Goldkind, said. "He has a full-time job (at a roti shop), always lived with his parents and this is an isolated incident."

In the last provincial elections in Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province, a coalition of Islamist parties - many sympathetic to the Taliban - swept into power, causing many observers to worry about a growing Islamist political force.

This week, however, the Islamist coalition called the MMA lost its majority, winning just 10 of the 96 contested seats in the provincial assembly.

David Cunningham of the Anti-Poverty Committee says paint in the Olympic colours was splashed inside the office to protest against the 2010 Games and the lack of social housing.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

All these years of trudging off to work and forking over thousands of tax dollars we've been working the system wrong, dead wrong...who knew?...a tin of paint, a bit of protesting and viola!...problem(s) solved.

-- KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- A “terrorist cell” responsible for three deadly bombings in Kandahar province that killed more than 100 people and wounded scores more has been brought down in Kandahar, the province's governor said Thursday.

Ten people have been arrested and more arrests are likely, Gov. Asadullah Khalid said.

And there's more good news...

Meanwhile, Afghan and NATO-led troops killed a regional Taliban commander and his associate in southern Afghanistan, officials said Thursday.

Joint NATO-Afghan forces killed commander Mullah Abdul Matin and Mullah Karim Agha in the southern province Helmand on Monday, the alliance said in a statement.

NATO said Mr. Matin and Mr. Agha were responsible for a number of suicide-bombing missions in Helmand, the world's largest opium-poppy producing region.

-- BELGRADE -- Serb rioters set fire to an office inside the U.S. Embassy Thursday and police clashed with protesters outside other embassy buildings after a large demonstration against Kosovo's declaration of independence.

Since 2003, the average gas bill for British Gas customers has risen by 76.7% to £653, according to consumer group Energywatch.

Electricity bills have risen by 74.3%, to £413.

Here at the Halls... we heat almost exclusively with wood. There's a 20 acre patch of mixed bush out back, that hopefully, will take care of our needs... well into the future.

I suppose people in most places don't have that option.

I find not being locked into Consumers Gas, or even the municipal water system for that matter, well... comforting. On the rare occasions we venture into the city, it's difficult to say whether we're more appalled by the brown haze over the city... or the chlorine in the drinking water.

I suppose the point I'm making is that "every refuge has it's price."

And even though living out here in the sticks can be a bit of a grind... gathering the years firewood, for example... it's a price worth paying.

-- OTTAWA -- The Conservative minority government will move Thursday to unveil a new motion on extending the mission in Afghanistan in a bid to close a compromise deal with the opposition Liberals that would allow Canadian soldiers to stay another two years, sources say.

The new motion is expected to spell out more clearly that the government intends to end the mission in Kandahar in 2011, and include some efforts to bridge Liberal demands – but the details may be key to a deal.

And, make no mistake, the clock is ticking here...

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is expected to outline the new proposal in a speech Thursday to the Conference of Defence Associations in Ottawa.

The government has set two days for debate on Afghanistan starting Monday, and the motion must be issued by Thursday.

20 February 2008

And if you go chasing rabbits...And you know you're going to fall...Tell 'em a hookah smoking caterpillar...Has given you the call

-- OTTAWA -- CTV's Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife said that Liberal Leader Stephane Dion was pushing for an election Tuesday, and was considering voting down the federal budget in March.

"He happens to believe that if Canadians see him in an election campaign, they'll like him and elect him as prime minister," said Fife.

"Of course, Liberal MPs have a different view of that. They believe that the party will get slaughtered in an election campaign, so they're telling him to please hold off and wait until it looks advantageous for the Liberal party to actually win."